How Hard Can It Be?
by Yavannasgrandmom
Summary: An early scene from Trumps of Doom, written from LukeRinaldo's perspective. Rated PG for mild language.


The following story results from a challenge put out on the Endless Shadows boards- to write a section of one of the Amber stories from another character's point of view.  
  
The characters, and some of the dialogue, belong to Roger Zelazny. The new POV is what I added (in this case, it's Luke/Rinaldo's).  
  
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It was April 30th, which meant, of course, I had to find Merle.  
  
I'd been finding him for the past seven April 30ths. Early on, it was to kill him. Later on, it was to stop my mom from killing him.  
  
I seriously doubted in the past year she'd had a change of heart, although it could happen. Not that she'd tell me. And if she did tell me, I'd not believe her.  
  
Tracking Merle was pretty easy. He was one of the most obvious people I'd ever met. Even more obvious if he was trying not to be obvious. If he wasn't so careless about his sorcery use and shadowplay, I'd seriously wonder if my mom had set me on the wrong person. Amberite? He didn't match anything I'd learned about the family.  
  
This year, he surprised me. He'd not told anyone he was leaving. I came back to work and found he'd quit. I went to his apartment, and found it vacant (giving me momentary panic), but a short trip into the super's informed me he was only moving out. And leaving no forwarding address.  
  
I had a good idea where the mail would need to be forwarded, though. And that was a problem for me. I had business at the same address, and I hadn't spent past years risking family strife by saving his life, just to see him taken down at home.   
  
Well, it was April 30th. And he was obvious. I knew where to find him.  
  
Sure enough, as I approached the diner, I heard a rap on the window. There was Merle, sitting in the booth I knew he'd be sitting in, waving. I smiled and waved back.  
  
I suppose I could have said "Hi, I'm tracking you down because my mom is going to try to kill you today." It was very tempting to do just that, just to see his face. I chuckled to myself. Nah. Besides, it was not the only reason I was here. No, an easy cover story... I'd think of it as I went along, but something work related would probably do. He had quit his job... so... they sent me to lure him back. Yeah, that would work. It also would open the door for another bit of information in which I was most interested. Perfect.  
  
"Merle, I was right," I said, sitting down across from him and pulling the menu from his hands. He didn't need it anyway. He'd look at it for ten minutes, then order the number four breakfast special. Man, I was hungry. "Missed you at your place and guessed you might be here."  
  
"Why?" he asked.   
  
The waiter showed up at that point, and I read off my order.   
  
Merle added his. "I'll have the number four."  
  
And a refill on coffee.   
  
"And," he went on, pointing to his cup. "Can you get me a refill when you get a chance? Thanks."  
  
"Because," I said. "You're a creature of habit."  
  
"Habit?" he asked, looking genuinely confused. "I hardly eat here anymore."  
  
"I know," I said. "But you usually did when the pressure was on. Like right before exams-- or if something was bothering you."   
  
"Hmm," he said, screwing his face up into that puzzled look he so often got. He played with the ashtray on the counter-- the one with the unicorn head. They littered every table, and I'd enjoyed squashing cigarettes into them in the past. A tiny guilty pleasure I guess.  
  
"I can't say why," he said after some thought. I believed him, too.   
  
"Besides," he went on, trying to look nonchalant. "What makes you think something is bothering me?"  
  
You know, eight years ago, when my mom first set me to this task, I looked forward to it. I knew about Amber. I knew what had happened to my father. I would get revenge. I'd been prepared for this for years. This was the last part of my schooling. Mom had found out her former mistress' son, also the son of Corwin of Amber, was going to be attending school in this shadow. My last bit of preparation would be to take him out.   
  
I enrolled in the same university. I studied the guy. Didn't like him at all, not at first. Whenever I saw him, I'd see all those arrogant bastards-- all those murdering Amberite brothers. Calculating, power-hungry, devoid of honor.  
  
Then I got to know Merle.  
  
"Are you sure it's him?" I asked my mother. Of course she was. But... but... killing him would be like clubbing a baby seal. I just couldn't do it.  
  
So, 7 years later, and all plans are starting to come to fruition. And the baby seal sits across from me, in a diner named for a unicorn, looking at me with wide eyes and saying "what makes you think something is bothering me?"  
  
No pelts for me today. I'll hunt the tigers. Not the baby seals.  
  
But... I had to get this one out of harms way, and out of my way, and I had a plan for it. I mean, we're talking Merle. How hard can it be? 


End file.
